Human resources can be some of the most valuable assets a partner can offer. The extra pair of hands, enthusiastic smiles for the kids, and a wealth of expertise and skills go a long way in an afterschool program. The tricky part of inviting volunteers on board is making sure they have enough to do and the right tasks to do. If you’ve ever had 15 volunteers show up to a garden ground-breaking, for instance, you know the importance of matching volunteers’ skills with the program’s needs as well as providing the appropriate resources and guidance for the volunteers. You don’t want to have five people sharing one shovel, seven helpers milling around with nothing to do, and three people taking over the lion’s share of the work.

Think about where and when volunteers can be helpful in your program. Then use this tool from Y4Y to write job descriptions for the various roles they can play. You can even use these job descriptions to advertise volunteer opportunities in the community. When potential volunteers see the details, they’ll know whether or not the role is a good one for them.

Once you’ve finalized your volunteer job description, you can check off your July to-do!

One way to keep partners involved for the long term is to honor their contribution, support, and commitment. Partners have many different reasons for collaborating with your program, and for the most part they are driven by a selfless wish to give back to the community. Still, everyone enjoys some acknowledgement for their good deeds.

In some cases, your program may want to recognize partners publicly, as in a press release or on a banner with their name and logo. Private recognition through small tokens of appreciation, letters, or special ceremonies can also be appropriate. Find some other ideas on this maintaining partnerships planning tool from Y4Y.

It’s up to you and your staff – and even the youth in your program! – to determine the best way to recognize your partners. Get together for a staff training session to brainstorm and develop plans for partner recognition. Use this Honoring Partners Training Starter from Y4Y to guide your session. You can customize the training plan with your own ideas to really target the partnerships your program has.

After you’ve hosted your Honoring Partners training session, you can check off your August to-do, and you’ll be heading into fall with a whole new strategy for building and maintaining strong partnerships in the local community!

And, finally, don’t forget to communicate regularly with your partners and involve them in your planning and team meetings. Communication leads to better cooperation, which helps partnerships last longer and have greater impact.

Did you miss the Coffee Break webinar in April when we highlighted several great resources on Y4Y for summer planning? Don’t worry – all of the tips and tools we talked about are still right at your fingertips. A recording of the webinar is available on Y4Y along with a list of the resources we discussed right in the Webinar Archive section. So if you weren’t able to attend or if you just want to watch it again and share it with your team, Y4Y has you covered. You can access recordings of all our webinars any time on demand at your convenience.

If you want to start using some of the tools we showcased, just click, print, and implement.

Some of your front line staff may be continuing as summer staff, and others may be brand new. With a mixed group of team members and a transition from one kind of program to another, there’s always a need for additional preparation and training. For one thing, the whole lineup should be committed to aligning programming with school-year standards from the very start. This alignment perspective begins with the program leader, who sets the tone and provides guidance and resources.

Y4Y has plenty of resources to help with your alignment efforts and your alignment trainings. A good way to start thinking about summer program training is to take a look at these possible needs for building staff skills in alignment. Which of these are priorities in your program? How will you incorporate them into your summer-prep training?

In the summer it is even more important than during the school year to “complement, not replicate” school-day learning. What does that look like? Take a look at the Complementing vs. Replicating tool for some ideas to spark your creativity as you plan for summer. Then think about how those strategies for engaging youth interest can be beneficial to your program, to the youth you serve, and to your community.

While you’re thinking about how to most effectively “complement, not replicate,” try one of the challenges on Y4Y. What would you say to encourage a staff member to try a dynamic, motivating activity instead of a worksheet? How could the math, literacy, science, and history concepts typed out on a worksheet be transformed into fun summer activities?

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